The Tragic Death of the Republican Party

The Republican Party once stood for limited government, active opposition to Soviet aggression, and a balanced budget.

共和党曾经主张有限政府、积极反对苏联侵略和平衡预算。

Now it stands only for Trump and his authoritarian neofascism, demanding total loyalty to him.

现在它只代表特朗普和他的独裁新法西斯主义，要求对他完全忠诚。

Yet Trump’s approval among U.S. adults now stands at 33 percent , with 66 percent disapproving; 52 percent said they disapprove strongly.

然而，特朗普在美国成年人中的支持率目前为 33%，66% 的人不支持； 52% 的人表示强烈反对。

(That approval rating is 4 percentage points lower than in July and 8 points lower than at this point last year.

（该支持率比 7 月份下降了 4 个百分点，比去年同期下降了 8 个百分点。

It’s lower than at any point in his first term.)

这比他第一个任期内的任何时候都低。）

In other words, the Republican Party has tied itself to Trump, but the vast majority of Americans believe Trump a failure.

换句话说，共和党将自己与特朗普捆绑在一起，但绝大多数美国人认为特朗普是失败的。

The death of the Republican Party is tragic to me personally.

共和党的消亡对我个人来说是一场悲剧。

I got my first job in government in Republican Gerald Ford’s administration.

我在共和党杰拉尔德·福特政府中找到了第一份政府工作。

I argued Supreme Court cases in Ford’s Department of Justice.

我在福特司法部为最高法院的案件辩护。

Years later, as secretary of labor under Bill Clinton, I worked closely with Republicans in the House and Senate to enact the Family and Medical Leave Act, raise the minimum wage, and protect workers’ pensions.

多年后，作为比尔·克林顿领导下的劳工部长，我与众议院和参议院的共和党人密切合作，制定了《家庭和医疗休假法案》，提高了最低工资，并保护了工人的养老金。

My father was a Republican who voted for Dwight Eisenhower for president in 1952 and 1956.

我的父亲是一名共和党人，曾于 1952 年和 1956 年投票选举德怀特·艾森豪威尔 (Dwight Eisenhower) 竞选总统。

His father, my grandfather Alexander Reich, was a Republican who voted for Alf Landon for president in 1936 and Wendell Willkie in 1940.

他的父亲，我的祖父亚历山大·赖克 (Alexander Reich) 是一名共和党人，曾于 1936 年投票支持阿尔夫·兰登 (Alf Landon) 竞选总统，并于 1940 年投票支持温德尔·威尔基 (Wendell Willkie) 竞选总统。

Gerald Ford is as far from the current Republican Party as was or is any Democratic president.

杰拉尔德·福特与现任共和党的距离与过去或现在任何一位民主党总统的距离一样远。

Sad to say, in 2024, the board of the Gerald R.

遗憾的是，到 2024 年，Gerald R.

Ford Presidential Foundation declined to present the Gerald R.

福特总统基金会拒绝赠送杰拉尔德·R·福特 (Gerald R.

Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service to former Wyoming representative Liz Cheney out of fear that, should he become president again, Trump would retaliate against the organization by taking away its tax-exempt status.

前怀俄明州众议员利兹·切尼被授予福特杰出公共服务奖章，因为担心如果他再次当选总统，特朗普会通过取消该组织的免税地位来对该组织进行报复。

In response, Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer David Hume Kennerly resigned from the board.

作为回应，普利策奖获奖摄影师大卫·休姆·肯纳利辞去董事会职务。

In his resignation letter he wrote that “Gerald Ford became president, in part, because Richard Nixon had ordered the development of an enemies list and demanded his underlings use the IRS against those listed.

他在辞职信中写道：“杰拉尔德·福特成为总统，部分原因是理查德·尼克松下令制定一份敌人名单，并要求他的下属利用国税局来对付名单上的人。

That’s exactly what the executive committee fears will happen if there’s a second coming of Donald Trump.” Kennerly added:

这正是执行委员会担心如果唐纳德·特朗普再次上台就会发生的情况。”肯纳利补充道：

“Did [Lieutenant] Gerald Ford meet the enemy head-on [in World War II] because he thought he wouldn’t get killed?

“[中尉]杰拉尔德·福特（在第二次世界大战中）与敌人正面交锋是否是因为他认为自己不会被杀？

No. He did it despite that possibility.

不，尽管有这种可能性，他还是这么做了。

This executive committee, on the other hand, bolted before any shots were fired.

另一方面，这个执行委员会在开枪之前就逃跑了。

You aren’t alone.

你并不孤单。

Many foundations, organizations, corporations, and other entities are caught up in this tidal wave of timidity and fear that’s sweeping this country.

许多基金会、组织、公司和其他实体都陷入了席卷这个国家的胆怯和恐惧的浪潮中。

I mistakenly thought we were better than that.

我错误地认为我们比那更好。

This is the kind of acquiescent behavior that leads to authoritarianism.

这种默许行为会导致专制主义。

President Ford most likely would have come out even tougher and said that it leads directly to fascism.”

福特总统很可能会表现得更加强硬，并表示这将直接导致法西斯主义。”

Ford’s biggest mistake as president was to pardon Nixon.

福特作为总统最大的错误是赦免尼克松。

Ford believed that America had to be shielded from the pain and disruption of a president put on criminal trial and possibly imprisoned.

福特认为，美国必须免受总统受到刑事审判并可能被监禁的痛苦和干扰。

Yet to many Americans, the fact that Nixon would not be held accountable felt like another assault on the common good.

然而对许多美国人来说，尼克松不会被追究责任这一事实感觉就像是对共同利益的又一次攻击。

All subsequent Republican presidential candidates, including Trump, have used Nixon’s playbook, relying on a coalition of corporate America and the white working class, and using bigoted racial dog-whistles.

随后的所有共和党总统候选人，包括特朗普，都使用了尼克松的剧本，依靠美国企业界和白人工人阶级的联盟，并使用偏执的种族狗哨。

Nixon infected the modern Republican Party with a sickness that would ultimately kill it.

尼克松给现代共和党带来了一种最终会杀死它的疾病。

Trump applied the coup de grace.

特朗普发动了致命一击。

The Republican Party purged their honest lawmakers who refused to go along with Trump’s Big Lie, the most dangerous one in American history in terms of its consequences for Americans’ confidence in democracy.

共和党清洗了那些拒绝听从特朗普的弥天大谎的诚实议员，就其对美国人民主信心的影响而言，这是美国历史上最危险的谎言。

On April 14, 2024, on ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked New Hampshire’s then Republican governor Chris Sununu about his switch from supporting former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for the Republican presidential nomination to supporting Trump.

2024 年 4 月 14 日，在美国广播公司 (ABC) 的“本周”节目中，主持人乔治·斯蒂芬诺普洛斯 (George Stephanopoulos) 向时任新罕布什尔州共和党州长克里斯·苏努努 (Chris Sununu) 询问他从支持前南卡罗来纳州州长尼基·黑利 (Nikki Haley) 竞选共和党总统提名转向支持特朗普的情况。

“Your words were very, very clear on January 11, 2021,” Stephanopoulos reminded Sununu.

“你在 2021 年 1 月 11 日说的话非常非常清楚，”斯蒂芬诺普洛斯提醒苏努努。

“You said that President Trump’s rhetoric and actions contributed to the insurrection.

“你说特朗普总统的言论和行动助长了叛乱。

No other president in history has contributed to an insurrection.

历史上没有其他总统曾促成叛乱。

So, please explain.”

那么，请你解释一下。”

Sununu responded, “For me, it’s not about him as much as it is having a Republican administration.”

苏努努回应道：“对我来说，重要的不是他，而是共和党政府。”

Near the end of the interview, Stephanopoulos said: “Just to sum up, you would support [Trump] for president even if he is convicted in classified documents.

采访接近结束时，斯蒂芬诺普洛斯说：“总而言之，即使他在机密文件中被定罪，你也会支持[特朗普]竞选总统。

You would support him for president even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection.

即使你相信他促成了叛乱，你也会支持他竞选总统。

You would support him for president even though you believe he’s lying about the last election.

即使你认为他在上次选举中撒了谎，你也会支持他竞选总统。

You would support him for president even if he’s convicted in the Manhattan case.

即使他在曼哈顿案中被定罪，你也会支持他竞选总统。

I just want to say, the answer to that is yes, correct?”

我只想说，答案是肯定的，对吗？”

Stephanpoulos: “I’m asking you about right and wrong.

Stephanpoulos：“我问的是对还是错。

You’re comfortable with the idea of supporting someone who’s convicted of a federal crime as president?”

你愿意支持一个被判犯有联邦罪行的人担任总统吗？”

Sununu: “No, I don’t think any American is comfortable with any of this.

苏努努：“不，我认为任何美国人都不会对此感到满意。

They don’t like any of this, of course, but I mean, when it comes to actually looking at each of these trials as they kind of take place whether it’s this year or next year or as they kind of line up.

当然，他们不喜欢这些，但我的意思是，当涉及到实际观察每一项试验时，无论是今年还是明年，或者是按顺序进行的试验。

Right now this is about an election.

现在这是关于选举的。

This is about politics.”

这与政治有关。”

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

我简直不敢相信我所听到的。

Politics is not about right and wrong?

政治不关乎对与错吗？

It has no moral content?

没有道德内容吗？

Is it only about winning?

难道只是为了胜利吗？

Chris Sununu’s willingness to destroy American democracy so his party could stay in power — a rejection of our system of government and an abrogation of the self-government that generations of Americans have fought and died for — is shared by most Republican officeholders today.

克里斯·苏努努（Chris Sununu）愿意摧毁美国民主，以便他的政党能够继续掌权——这是对我们的政府制度的拒绝，是对几代美国人为之奋斗和牺牲的自治的废除——这是当今大多数共和党公职人员的共识。

The Republican Party’s end is tragic because America needs two parties capable of governing; two parties with a sense of the common good, even if their interpretations of it differ; two parties dedicated to democracy, even if politics is sometimes dirty and often frustrating.

共和党的结局是悲惨的，因为美国需要两个有能力执政的政党；具有共同利益意识的两个政党，即使他们对共同利益的解释不同；两个致力于民主的政党，即使政治有时是肮脏的并且常常令人沮丧。

The death of the Republican Party illustrates what happens when presidents are not held accountable.

共和党的消亡说明了当总统不承担责任时会发生什么。

It is evidence of what occurs when a large portion of the public feels it’s been cheated.

这证明了当大部分公众感觉自己被欺骗时会发生什么。

It shows that many Americans have lost sight of our history and ideals or have become so cynical and hopeless that they are willing to chuck it all in favor of an atrocious human being who claims to be on their side.

它表明，许多美国人已经忽视了我们的历史和理想，或者变得如此愤世嫉俗和绝望，以至于他们愿意为了一个自称站在他们一边的残暴人类而抛弃一切。

The Republican Party went from a governing institution into a crazed cult, intent on turning America into an authoritarian nation.

共和党从一个执政机构变成了一个疯狂的邪教，一心要把美国变成一个独裁国家。

A large, angry, anxious working class craved a strongman who’d shake up the system, but strongmen are utterly inconsistent with democracy.

一个庞大的、愤怒的、焦虑的工人阶级渴望一个能够撼动整个体系的强人，但强人与民主完全不一致。

Hence, the GOP’s death.

因此，共和党的死亡。

I fervently hope that many of the Trump cultists now in Congress who call themselves Republicans will be thrown out on November 3.

我热切希望国会中许多自称为共和党人的特朗普崇拜者能够在 11 月 3 日被赶出国会。

That would be the best thing that could happen to the Republican Party, because it could give the GOP the chance it desperately needs — to start over.

这对共和党来说是最好的事情，因为它可以给共和党带来其迫切需要的机会——重新开始。

This past Friday, Trump waived additional sanctions on Russia that Congress demanded in a recent law named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) two days before the sanctions were to go into effect.

上周五，特朗普在制裁生效前两天放弃了国会在最近一项以已故参议员林赛·格雷厄姆（R-SC）命名的法律中要求对俄罗斯实施的额外制裁。

Putin’s chihuahuas, Trump and Musk, are the enemy of the people!

普京的吉娃娃，特朗普和马斯克，是人民的敌人！

What the heck else, do the American people have to see?

到底是什么，美国人民必须看到吗？

Charles Darwin would roll over in his grave--Donnie is a genetic throw back that should never have happened!!!..

查尔斯·达尔文会在坟墓里翻身——唐尼是一个基因倒退的人，这是不应该发生的！